The Virginia Cavaliers have their new man, and his name is Tony Elliott.
On Friday, UVA named Elliott their Fralin Family Head Football Coach, their 41st head football coach.
Elliott, the school’s second Black head football coach behind Mike London, arrives at the ACC university with championship credentials.
He was the offensive coordinator at Clemson since 2014 and the team’s assistant head coach since January. While at Clemson, Elliott helped lead the Tigers to two national titles (2016, 2018) in four College Football Playoff appearances and six ACC championships.
In 2017, he won the Broyles Award, presented annually to the best assistant coach in college football. It’s an important accolade as some of those winners have gone on to successful head coaching careers, including Georgia’s Kirby Smart and new USC coach, Lincoln Riley.
โThis is an awesome opportunity for the University of Virginia as we welcome Coach Tony Elliott into the UVA football family,โ said Athletic Director Carla Williams. โCoach Elliott is a winner, in every sense of the word. He is known for his character, humility, work ethic, skill set and passion for education. Coach Elliott is an exceptional leader of young men and he is highly regarded across college football as a talented teacher and coach. He is an outstanding recruiter who has been responsible for recruiting, signing and developing scholar-athletes while competing for and winning championships.
โWe aspire to elevate UVA football in a manner that is consistent with the Universityโs core mission and purpose. Coach Elliott understands and embraces this amazing opportunity to do something really special at the University of Virginia. I am thrilled for the young men in our football program. We are honored to welcome him, his wife Tamika and their sons, A.J. and Ace, to Virginia.โ
Tony Elliott’s ability to identify, recruit and develop talent wasn’t birthed in coaching though. It was crafted and recognized while working as an industrial engineer at a Michelin tire plant in South Carolina.
Despite his young age, Tony Elliot displayed championship coaching skills while working with and organizing teams. He was a star, helping the plant become one of the best in the company.
But, according to a story by Sports Illustrated, even his boss knew he was destined for bigger things. So he encouraged him to pursue his dream.
That’s when he turned to coaching and flourished.
Elliott guided players such as Travis Etienne and Trevor Lawrence into stardom, helping the two lead an offensive juggernaut that dominated the college gridiron.
During his tenure as offensive coordinator, Clemson ranked in the top-12 nationally in offense and owned two of the 22 650-point seasons in major college football history.
Virginia’s new head coach, who takes over after the Cavaliersโ December 29 Wasabi Fenway Bowl matchup against SMU, overcame challenges at a young age to work his way up the ladder.
His father was in jail and he and his family were homeless in Los Angeles for a while. Later on, he was in the vehicle when his mother died in a car accident. These are events that could break a person, but Elliott refused to succumb.
He turned to sports and enrolled at Clemson as a walk-on receiver and was named team captain his senior year.
Even more impressively, Elliott graduated from Clemson in 2002 as a first-team Academic All-ACC selection and recipient of an ACC Weaver-James-Corrigan Postgraduate Scholarship.
He worked at Michelin for two years before deciding to return to football.
Elliott became the wide receivers coach for HBCU school South Carolina State University for two years. Then he moved to Furman University for three years before returning to his alma mater as running backs coach in 2011.
Now the former industrial engineer moves to Virginia where he finally gets his chance to lead a team.
